Electrosynthesis of Sulfonamides Mediated by a Cavity Cell

Sulfonamides are important therapeutic agents and have a diverse array of biological functions1 in chemistry they are important for preparation of biologically active compounds2. Sulfonamides can be synthesized using sulfonyl chlorides3, however, due to the difficulty, approaches for the synthesis of sulfonamides based on the generation of sulfonyl radicals have been developed4.Electrochemistry provides a feasible alternative for sulfonamide synthesis, therefore, can become economically and environmentally viable5. In this work, we describe a new electrochemical method for the synthesis of sulfonamides based on the reaction with amines and sulfonyl radicals generated in a cavity cell using graphite powder electrode, LiClO4 as the electrolytic solution at 20 mA without additives or solvents aiming to develop a procedure that meets the standards of the green chemistry. For the development milder reaction conditions benzylamine and sodium p-toluenesulfinate were used as model compounds and different conditions were studied. The compounds were obtained in 63-95% yield.